They Say: Parents are Angry, Angry People

A new survey has found that parents who still have young children at home are among the angriest people in the U.S. As a mother of three under 8, that really ticks me off.

The study of 1,800 Americans — conducted by a guy in freaking happy-go-lucky Canada, grrrr — asked participants 18 years and older when and how they feel angry. Scott Shieman, of the University of Toronto, wanted to build a broad portrait of anger in America.

The reported emotions ranged from mild annoyance to full-on rage. The study found that having children was associated with angry feelings and behaviors like yelling, particularly for women.All of which isn’t surprising since the three biggest anger triggers are time pressures, financial hardship and conflict at work. Let’s see, it’s widely reported that parents — often especially mothers — have too little time, too little money and co-workers that loathe them (or, at least, question their loyalty).

Time pressures appeared to make people most angry, but in the low-grade annoyance kind of way. Money problems are what make people lose it.

The other angriest Americans included people under 30 and the less educated.Shieman conducted the study in 2005 and the results will be published next year.

I can’t decide if I’m more or less angry now than I was pre-kids. Parenthood started for me shortly after my twenties ended, so maybe it was a wash. I also left a workplace then, which reduced many time pressures (but lowered our income, not quite causing money issues but making things tighter. Still, another wash?)

Thoughts? Are you less angry now than when you were in your twenties? Do the kids make you lose your mind or has age and education helped balanced that out?

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